When you get chilled, isn't it nice to warm up again? When you're really famished, isn't it great to eat just about any kind of food? When you've done a really hard day's work, isn't it pleasant to sit down and rest? All of these are examples of WHAT PLEASURE IS: it is simply a return to equilibrium...

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Tiny Tim - The Ice Caps Are Melting

Whether you liked his music or not, there is no denying that Tiny Tim was a true original - honest, well-mannered, strange, an expert in early 20th century popular music, friends with the Beatles and Bob Dylan, worked in a circus...

Here is "The Ice Caps Are Melting", from some television program, sometime in the 1960's:

Is it just me, or is there more than a passing resemblance to Gene Wilder's portrayal of Willy Wonka here? Sure, the frizzy hair, and the similar facial features, and "fine" manner of dress...but also the sheer loopiness, the psychedelia, the dark humor, the not-so-hidden undercurrent of malevolence?

1 comment:

That was terrifying. Yes, I can see the resemblance. Still,Mr. Wonka came off as warm and endearing...but Tiny Tim, in this particular segment anyway, reminds me of a frightening combination of Alex from A Clockwork Orange (Malcolm McDowell), Gollum and Al Gore. All of whom send shivers down my spine.